Gas Prices on the rise.......AGAIN

Thank you hurricane Katrina. These are tough times we live in and they are getting tougher. Its not bad enough that this storm devastated hundreds of thousands of people. Everyone in the country will fee it as well. Its time for our government to step in and give us all some relief..............................(Yeah right!)

We have been spared....

but others in the U.S. are not going to be so lucky. Hurricane Katrina is a really scary storm. When we were told to prepare for a category 1 storm I had to clue that once it passed us that it would strengthen into a cat 5 as it approaches New Orleans. The damage this storm is going to cause we can't even fathom. This storm will change that area completely. This storm could virtually eliminate new orleans. If you believe in prayer, now is the time to use it. These people are about to experience the scariest time of their lives, if they are lucky enough to survive it.

Hurricanes suck

So we have a tropical storm/hurricane coming our way. We are going to have 50-80 mph winds here. The storm is going to hit tonight some time. Do you think think I will be able to leave work early in order to secure my home and get supplies we need? Of course not. As a matter of fact, I have work tomorrow even if the storm is still out there. Wow what fun its going to be trying to drive in that kind of weather tomorrow......................

At Oscar's job they are playing it by ear. Most likely he will stay home tomorrow with Lexi. Especially if we have no power. Lexi's sitter lives in a mobile home and I wont keep her there during a hurricane. It's just not safe.

It's been done

Chris had the surgery to put the pacemaker in. The surgery went well the doctor made a comment about how "malnourished" she is. We of course she is!!! She basically hasnt held food down in 2 years. I mean what the hell do they expect? So now we wait and see if this thing helps her over the next few months. I really hope it does!

My sister

I have blogged about my sister in the past but I don't think I ever really detailed how she got to where she is right now.

Her diabetes wasn't typical. What most people don't know is that the juvenile diabetes gene is triggered by a viral infection such as the chicken pox. Most children are not born being diabetic. Well as kids all three of us were fortunate enough not to get childhood diseases. But I don't know if it was really fortunate now that I look back on it.

My sister was seventeen when she got the chicken pox from her friend's son. Two years later she developed Type I diabetes. At first she was in denial. She would not check her blood sugar and she was hiding canybars under her bed. This continued until she wound up in the hospital with her first uncontrollable vomiting episode. They did not diagnose it at this point but she was in the hospital for 2 months. She wouldn't eat and when she did it was thrown up later. Once she was finally out they put her in an eating disorder clinic, not because she had a disorder but because she needed to learn how to eat all over again.

Fast forward 10 years, she is 30 and seems to be doing much better. Then the vomiting started again. We were all shocked since it had not happened in such a long time. I did some research on the web and came up with a possible diagnosis. A condition that is sometimes associated with diabetes is what is known as "gastroparesis". With this condition the nerves in the stomach stop working and food will just curdle in the stomach. Ultimately it will cause uncontrollable vomiting which results in elevated blood sugar and blood pressure. The only way to get the body back under control is going into the hospital. They agreed that this was in fact the condition that she had (it's a shame it took a non-medical professional to bring it to their attention). They put her on a ton of meds to control the "episodes".

The meds never seemed to work. Over the last 4 years she has been in and out of the hospital. As of the result of the eleveted blood sugar she has lost sight in one eye, use of her kidneys, and had her gall bladder removed.

Last year she was diagnosed with complete kidney failure and started the process to get put on the donor list for a kidney and a pancreas. In the last two years she has been in the hospital every 2-3 weeks with mainly the gastroparesis issues. A few times she also was in there for insulin shock (blood sugar getting too low).

Two months ago she was taken to the cleveland clinic and they wanted to put a pacemaker in her stomach which is supposed to help the nerves in the stomach regulate but the insurance wouldn't approve the procedure calling it "investigative". The gastro doc has been fighting and handling the appeal himself . Well last week she wound up back in the hospital again, along with my mom who isn't handling the stress all too well.

This morning we got the word that they approved the pacemaker and we are waiting to see when they are going to perform the procedure! I guess seeing how much she is in the hospital made them push it through.

So that is her story in a nutshell. I am sure I left some things out, but it's been such a long road its hard to remember everything.

Did the TV you watched as a child affect you?

So some of the blogs I have been reading have been discussing movies and television from our childhood (hi Alex and Christi!). One of the shows that was mentioned was Three's Company. I was thinking about how this show affected me and it's really stupid but I have to share what I used to do as a kid. So if you remember Janet used to wear the gloria vanderbilt blue jeans and stiletto heels EVERYWHERE. Ok well I went through a phase at home where I would walk around the house in jeans and my mother's heels. I thought I wasn't "normal" cause I didn't do it LOL! Ok go ahead and tell me what a nerd I am.

I think I got all the healthy genes..............

in my family. I got a call from my step-dad telling me that he was taking my mom to the ER for chest pains. Well they just called to let me know that they are keeping her overnight because they found something irregular when they dropped her BP. THe kind of ironic part is that she is on the same floor as my sis.................gee what are the odds?

In the hospital again

My sister is back in the hospital due to her gastroparesis again. My heart is breaking for her. She is in the hospital literally every 3 weeks. I don't know how much more her body can actually take.

I saw her on Sunday. SHe looks horrible. She doesnt look like a 34 year old woman, she looks like an old lady who has been to hell and back. She weighs maybe 80 lbs, has age spots all over, can barely walk, and is blind in one eye. I keep praying for God to either give her what she needs or take her already. It is becoming harder and harder for me to understand why he is testing her in such a horrible way. She is such a good and kind person. She doesn't deserve this.

I really hope that she gets some relief soon, her suffering deserves to stop.

School starts in two weeks!

At least for me it does. I haven't taken a class since I was pregnant (I finished my associates degree when I was 9 months pregnant). I did take one spanish class when lexi was 6 months old and it was torture.

My problem is I am so tired all the time now. SO now I need to start staying up till at least 11 doing homework. Its gonna be an adjustment since now I am in bed by 9:30! Working full time raising and daughter and going to school part time is definitely going to be a challenge....................

We are getting a new Roomba

We bought a Roomba 6 months ago and it already died. They are sending us a new one for free..Yayyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Shedding Must Stop!!!

I know pets shed. But the hair in my house is extreme! Its not bad enough that I have 4 cats that shed, but I also find my hair all over the house too!

I am this close to getting rid of all of the animals and now Oscar wants a dog....NOT. I will never have this many animals again. 2 is my maximum. I am tired of cleaning and not 10 minutes later finding cat hair on the floor. It doesn't help that my Roomba isn't working right (that was a waste of $300). I think all the cat hair killed it.

So............anyone want a cat???? I'm giving them away!!!